Reducing Heat Exchanger Manufacturing Times by up to 75%

Arc Machines Inc.
(AMI) has given the biggest supplier of air-cooled heat exchangers in South Africa
a triple boost by reducing manufacturing times at a plant in Johannesburg by up
to 75 percent, winning the company more orders and helping it receive an
innovation award.

GEA Aircooled Systems
in South Africa is delighted it turned to AMI for automated orbital welding equipment
after winning a major contract from a South African petrochemical giant to
supply an Incoloy 825 alloy air-cooled heat exchanger.

Because restricted
access to the air cooler tubes limited the amount of manual welding that could be used during the
manufacturing process, GEA ordered two of AMI’s Tube Welding Model 207 Power
Supplies, together with the Model 9-2500 and Model 9BT-1500 weld heads. These
solutions have helped the company to complete the contract a month ahead of
schedule – much to the satisfaction of the client.

In fact, GEA’s
International Welding Engineer, Angel Krustev, says that the success of the
project and the resultant further orders it has received for air-coolers from
the same customer, can all be put down to the performance of AMI’s orbital
welding equipment.

He explains: “We knew
of the excellent reputation of the AMI brand for years and have not been disappointed.
The quality of the welds is outstanding. We welded more than 1,000 welds on 1” tubes
in space with very restricted access. It reduced the manufacturing time by60-75 percent and has tremendously increased
our productivity.”

Mr. Krustev has
already recommended AMI’s automated orbital welding equipment to other GEA companies
and has used the Model 9-1500 weld heads for developing a new welding
application that won the bronze medal at the GEA Annual Innovation Contest, a
competition which is open to the organization’s multitude of companies
worldwide.

He is also planning
to present live demonstrations of the new technology, using the AMI equipment,
during the regional congress of the International Institute of Welding, to be
held in Johannesburg later this year.

The flexible Model 207
Tube Welding Power Supply is suitable for a lot of diverse industries, making
it an ideal acquisition for global companies such as GEA. The Model 207 is
designed to work with all AMI’s orbital fusion weld heads and is capable of
welding tubing and thin wall pipe. The internal memory of the machine stores up
to 100 different welding schedules for quick access.

High-integrity,
sanitary welds are easily reproduced at the touch of a button to meet or exceed
the specifications required by many sectors including, semiconductor, food and
beverage, pharmaceutical, aerospace, and nuclear.

Other features
include dust and moisture-proof soft touch membrane switches - ideal for
cleanroom use and harsh
environments - internal printer, external memory port, three-position key
switch to limit operating or programming access to the user and optional remote
control to allow welding function overrides and access to any four
pre-determined welding schedules.

GEA in South Africa
is the latest company to benefit from Arc Machines’ automated orbital welding solutions,
boosting its order book thanks to the excellent performance of the equipment it
has purchased so far – and plans to buy more of in the future. ♦